


Stockholm Syndrome

by Treon



Series: Free as a Bird 'verse [8]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-05 17:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6713962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treon/pseuds/Treon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The FBI gets Alex to turn on Neal</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to Mums the Word for help and beta'ing.

  
Sometimes, the White Collar division put in months and months of painstaking work into closing a case.  Sometimes, the cases practically closed themselves.  
  
So it was that Tuesday.  
  
The White Collar team were investigating Fred Hunt.  A respectable businessman, Hunt owned several bookshops around the metropolitan area.  But according to insistent tips, in addition to selling romance novels, he also dealt in stolen books on the side.  
  
They had barely started the investigation when fortune smiled upon them.  Jones and his team were tailing the guy, getting a handle on his daily schedule.  It all seemed rather mundane, at first.  Hunt made his way between his shops, checking in on each, going over inventory and spending some time talking to customers.  Then he stopped at a cafe, where he met with a woman.  A package exchanged hands in return for an envelope.  It could have been a legal deal, but Jones went with his gut instinct, risked the entire op, and arrested both of them.  Turned out that Hunt had just purchased a stolen book.  
  
And not just any stolen book.  It was a first-edition of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, part of an exhibit at the Russian Heritage Museum which had featured a dozen rare books on special loan from the Russian government.  Two weeks earlier, the place was hit and the thief (or thieves) got away with almost the entire collection.  
  
It was quite the embarrassment for the NYPD, who had been tasked with guarding the exhibit, and the State Department, who had coordinated the event.  The Feds were called in, but for the past two weeks, there had been no trace of the missing books.  
  
But Lady Luck wasn't finished with her surprises.  The fence they'd arrested turned out to be one Alexandra Hunter, known associate of Neal Caffrey.  Who just happened to be the main suspect in the book heist.  
  
Peter and Jones were sitting in Peter's office, mugs of steaming coffee in their hands.  It wasn't yet time for popping open the champagnes, but they could certainly allow themselves to bask.    
  
Jones was giving Peter the breakdown of the operation, when Peter, who had been watching out onto the bullpen, suddenly interrupted. "Ah... there's Ruiz."   
  
Jones turned to look.  Indeed, Agent Joe Ruiz, from the Violent Crimes division, was just stepping into the White Collar offices.  
  
Peter wasn't on best terms with Ruiz, to say the least, but Ruiz was now handling the Caffrey case.  If they wanted to catch the conman, Peter needed Ruiz's help.  
  
Peter downed the remains of his coffee.  "Let's get this show on the road."  
  
"Good luck," Jones offered.  
  
"I hope I won't need it," Peter answered wryly.  
  
He met Ruiz halfway across the bullpen.  
  
"I appreciate the call, Burke." Ruiz sounded sincere enough.  
  
Peter nodded. "Come, I'll show you what we have."  He motioned with his hand towards the interrogation rooms.  "Hunter apparently has connections in high places.  Charges against her usually get mysteriously dropped."  
  
Ruiz snorted. "So she probably thinks she can get away with it this time as well."  
  
"Most probably," Peter agreed.  "She's keeping quiet until her lawyer gets here.  But we know that Hunter's involved with Caffrey."  
  
"Romantically?"  
  
"I don't think so." The two hadn't seen overly friendly to Peter.  "But they're definitely business partners. Hunter's been a suspect in Caffrey's heists before.  Until now we've never had enough evidence to put her away."    
  
It sounded familiar enough to Ruiz. "We brought in Caffrey for questioning, you know, for the Russian Heritage Museum heist.  But we didn't have enough to pin it on him."  
  
"Until now."  
  
"Until now," Ruiz agreed.  
  
They stopped outside the interrogation room, where they could observe Alex inside.  She was wearing tight pants and a light sleeveless shirt, her hands cuffed in front of her.  Despite that, she did not look very concerned.  Legs stretched out under the table, she gazed with a rather bored expression at the opposite wall, a quiet smirk on her face.  
  
"What I suggest," Peter started laying out his plan, "is that you bring Caffrey in for a follow-up interrogation, make sure he knows why Hunter's here.  He won't let her take the fall for a crime he committed."  
  
"Won't let her..." Ruiz repeated, in disbelief.  "Caffrey's a sociopath, Burke. He cares only about himself."  
  
"He was willing to risk a lot to save his girlfriend," Peter countered.  Last summer Neal had shown up on his doorstep with a tempting deal: he'd help the Feds catch Matthew Keller in return for immunity for Keller's accomplice, Kate Moreau.  Against all expectations, he had even delivered.    
  
"He was willing to risk a lot to turn on his former partner." Ruiz shook his head resolutely.  "And for all we know, that's all Hunter is.  It's too risky, Burke.  We've only got one chance on this.  Once Caffrey knows we arrested Hunter, we'll lose the element of surprise.  He might flee."  
  
"He won't."  
  
"Besides," Ruiz continued, "I have the winning ticket right here."  He tapped the thin folder in his hand.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Here, I'll show you..."

 


	2. Chapter 2

  
Alex didn't stir when Ruiz entered the interrogation room and took a seat across from her.  He put an FBI folder on the table in front of him. "Good afternoon, Ms. Hunter.  I'm Special Agent Joe Ruiz."  
  
Alex barely spared the federal agent a glance.  She had told the arresting agent that she was not going to say a word until her lawyer got here, and she intended to stick to that.    
  
Ruiz wasn't put off by her response, or lack thereof.  "I head the Violent Crimes department for the bureau here in New York.  Over the years my department has gotten a lot of help from the Russians, dealing with the Russian Mafiosos."  
  
Alex had no idea where this was heading.  Her glance wandered towards the large mirror that took up most of one wall.    
  
"So you can understand that we're under a lot of pressure to return the favor." Ruiz removed a piece of paper from the folder and pushed it over to Alex.  
  
Alex's eyes moved down to the page, then back to Ruiz.  
  
The agent held her gaze.  "Those books your stole, Ms. Hunter, are quite important to the Russian government, and they insisted on direct involvement in the investigation.  That's your extradition order.  The Russians are looking forward to meeting you.  As you can see, it's already got the DA's approval on it."  
  
Alex was not impressed.  "I'm not stupid, Agent Ruiz.  I know my rights.  Once my lawyer sees this, she'll rip it to shreds."  She pushed the form back.  
  
Ruiz smiled quietly.  The woman was caught red-handed trying to sell stolen books. Smart, she wasn't.    
  
"That's assuming your lawyer sees this.  If I'm not mistaken, she was told you've been transferred to Rikers Island."  That last one was Burke's idea, a tactic to give them more time to work over Caffrey.  It certainly helped that Caffrey and Hunter had pissed off NYPD and the city with their little show-off heist.  There were enough people who were willing to help out with a bureaucratic misdirect.  
  
"So," Ruiz continued, "my guess is that by the time she sees this, you'll already be at cruising altitude somewhere over the Atlantic."  
  
He could see the smirk was already coming off.  Good.    
  
Alex's eyes blazed with anger. "You can't extradite me without my lawyer being present."  
  
"Of course I can't.  But you know how these things go.  Mistakes happen."  Now it was Ruiz's turn to smirk.  "You'll get your chance to talk to a lawyer once the extradition goes through."  
  
Alex jumped to her feet, pushing her chair back. "You can't do that!"  
  
Ruiz slowly got up as well, holding up a hand to signal those watching outside that he had this under control.  "Sit down."  
  
"I want to see my lawyer."  
  
"Sit down."  He waited for her to do so, and after a few moments' hesitation, very reluctantly, she did.  "I don't think you realize how much trouble you're in, Ms. Hunter.  How much pressure we're under to deliver.  We're in a very sticky situation, but I would like to help you."    
  
"Really?" Alex wasn't buying it.  
  
"We know Neal Caffrey was involved in the heist."  
  
"Who?"  
  
Instead of answering, Ruiz opened the folder again, this time producing a grainy photo of Neal next to Alex.  "This was taken in Neal Caffrey's apartment last summer, at a party of his.  You were spotted having quite the chat with him.  Ring any bells?"  
  
Alex looked at the photo dispassionately. "I might have attended his party. I don't remember."  
  
"I'd think Caffrey would be a hard guy to forget." Ruiz leered at her.  
  
"What's your point?"  
  
"You hand Neal Caffrey over, this extradition goes away."  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
"You'll be on a flight to Moscow within the hour."  
  
Alex laughed humorlessly.  "So this is what you've got?  I don't help you out, you hand me over to the Russians?"  
  
"Pretty much," Ruiz admitted. "Look, somebody's going down for this heist.  I'd rather it be Caffrey, but you're the easy target right now."  
  
Alex glared at the agent in silence.  
  
Ruiz figured it was time to sweeten the pill.  "You help us get evidence on Caffrey, I'll personally make sure you both carry out your sentence in the company of bankers and lawyers.  You hold back, and Sing Sing will be a paradise compared to where you two are going to end up."  
  
Ruiz dropped the photo on the table, right by the extradition form.  "I'll give you a few minutes to think it over."

 

*****

  
Outside, Ruiz joined Peter in front of the observation window.  Inside they could see Alex perusing the extradition form.  
  
Peter shook his head.  Ruiz's plan was risky, though Peter agreed that it could pay off.    
  
Ruiz was trying to game the conmen.  It was all a con.  There was no extradition request.  The Russians didn't even know the Feds had a suspect in custody.    
  
"What if she calls your bluff?"  
  
Ruiz nodded towards the interrogation room, where Alex was sitting, brooding.  "I don't think she'll risk it.  Look, Burke, I've gotten confessions from quite a few mafiosos this way.  Nobody wants to end up in a Russian prison."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
"Trust me on this one." Ruiz watched Alex for a moment. He was sure she'll break.  "Oh, hey, where's your evidence locker?  I want to look through what she had on her."  
  
"Yeah, sure. It's over here."  Peter snuck one last look at Alex before he turned around to lead Ruiz out.

 

*****

  
Back in the interrogation room, Ruiz grinned at Alex. "So? We got a deal?"  
  
Alex slowly nodded.  
  
"Good."  
  
Ruiz produced an evidence bag containing a cell-phone.  It was the phone the Feds found on Alex when they arrested her.  He slapped it down on the table in front of her.  
  
"Call Caffrey, tell him you have a buyer.  Ask him to bring the rest of the loot."  
  
"What? Now?"  
  
"Yeah. Why, do you have anything else planned for tonight?"  
  
She raised her hands. "You're gonna take the cuffs off first?"  
  
"Just make the call. Keep it on speaker."    
  
Alex shot him a look, but followed the agent's orders.  
  
The phone rang twice before Neal picked up, sounding rather annoyed.  "Alex, this is not a good time."  
  
Alex hesitated, and Ruiz twirled his finger, signaling her to go on.    
  
Clearing her throat, Alex forged on.  "I've got an offer for the books.  Half a million for the whole thing."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Half a million, Neal. But we've got to move fast."  
  
"Alex, this isn't what we agreed."  
  
"Neal-"  
  
"We already discussed this.  I'm not interested, Alex."  
  
Alex tapped the mute button.  "Let me meet with him. Face to face, I can be more convincing."  
  
Ruiz made a snap decision. "Fine. Set up a meet in an hour.  Somewhere public."  
  
She reached for the phone to unmute the call, but Ruiz caught her hand.  "You try to warn him, pull any trick, I swear to God, I'll put you on that plane myself."  
  
Alex pulled her hand free and turned back to the phone.  "Neal, you're at the Gansevoort?"  
  
The Gansevoort hotel was Neal's current base.    
  
"Yeah, but-"  
  
"I'll meet you by the bar downstairs in an hour."  
  
"Alex, I told you - this is _not_ a good time."  
  
"One hour, Neal."  
  
She ended the conversation, cutting off Neal's protestations, then looked up at Ruiz. "He'll be there."  
  
Ruiz smiled grimly. "For your sake, he better."


	3. Chapter 3

  
Half an hour before the appointed time, Alex entered the hotel bar and took a seat.  
  
From the second Hunter agreed to help the Feds and until that very moment, the FBI had been running around like crazy, trying to set up an operation in an impossibly short period of time.  But they had done it.  
  
Ruiz had agents in the hotel security control room, watching over all the camera feeds.  The hotel had enough security cameras to cover every square inch of the bar.  It would have been better to station agents in the bar itself, but the Feds didn't want to spook Caffrey.  He'd been known to spot even the best surveillance teams.    
  
Ruiz did, however, take the precaution of stationing agents around all the hotel entrances. He did not want Hunter walking out.  
  
Hunter herself was wired, and the van was parked around the block.    
  
In the van, the agents were still running last-minute sound checks.    
  
In the flurry of activity around them, Ruiz grinned at Peter.   Peter returned a tentative smile.    
  
Ruiz had been magnanimous in his (soon-to-be) victory and had offered the White Collar agent ringside seats for the upcoming takedown.  Peter would have preferred to be the one running the show, of course, but he had jumped at the offer, nonetheless.    
  
Alex ordered a vodka and glanced at her watch.  The Feds had removed her jewelry after they arrested her, but had given it back for this little sting of theirs. Together with a nice little addition: a bracelet equipped with a microphone.  
  
She turned it round her wrist.  It was a heavy piece of metal, not her usual style, and it served to remind her, rather uncomfortably, that if she didn't pull this off, she'll probably spend the rest of her life in cuffs, behind bars.  It wasn't a thought she cared to dwell on.    
  
She took a steadying breath and let it out slowly.  She could feel the blood pumping in her veins, the familiar sign of the oncoming rush of the con.  
  
Alex's relationship with Neal had gone through many upheavals over the years.  They've been lovers, once.  Now, they were barely even business partners.  They pulled a job together here and there - most recently, the Russian Heritage Museum job - but things weren't like they used to be.  Maybe it was Neal's time in jail, or maybe they'd grown up.  They'd certainly grown apart.  
  
She hoped he would understand.  
  
Five minutes before the appointed time, Neal Caffrey stepped into the bar.  He was looking quite elegant, with a tailored shirt and sports jacket.  He glanced round, and spotting Alex, made a beeline over.  
  
"Alex," he said in greeting.  His eyes scanned the bar, making sure nobody could overhear him.  "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Neal." She downed her drink before turning to the young man, a smile on her lips.  "Thanks for coming."  
  
"Alex..." there was a warning note in his voice.  
  
She raised a hand in a calming motion. "I told you, I've got an offer for the books.  I wouldn't have bothered you tonight, but we've got to move fast, the buyer's flying out tonight."  
  
He looked at her, flabbergasted. "Are you nuts?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"How does this buyer of yours even know about the books?  I thought we agreed we'll keep things out of sight until the heat dies down."  
  
Alex didn't like being reminded of that.  Had she listened to Neal, she probably wouldn't have gotten caught.  "Maybe _you_ agreed, Neal."  
  
Neal wasn't about to argue the point.  "Whatever.  You can sell him your third. I'm not interested."  
  
In the van, Peter blinked at this new tidbit of information.  Caffrey was the prime suspect for the heist.  Hunter was also in on it, obviously.  But they hadn't gotten a whiff of a third accomplice.  
  
He almost missed Neal's next sentence.  "-this isn't an ambush?  Everybody's on the lookout right now."  
  
"I trust this guy, okay?  He's a regular customer.  It's easy money, Neal."  
  
"Too easy, if you ask me."  
  
"Sometimes easy money is just that." She shrugged.  "Remember Stockholm?"  
  
Neal narrowed his eyes.  "Seriously?"  
  
Peter remembered a postcard he once got from Neal, from Sweden, back when the conman was on the run.  A depressing black & white.  He glanced over at Ruiz. The other agent was listening intently to his earphones.  "Hey, Ruiz, what happened in-"  
  
Ruiz shushed him.  
  
Peter rolled his eyes, then pulled out his phone and called Jones.  
  
"Hey, Peter, how's the takedown?"  
  
"Ongoing. Jones, quick question.  Do you remember-"  
  
Ruiz had enough.  "Burke! Keep it down, we're in the middle of an op here."  
  
Peter sighed to himself, but lowered his voice to a whisper, "-remember anything in Caffrey's file about Stockholm?"  
  
"Stockholm?  Hold on."  Peter could hear keys clacking in the background as Jones brought up the report in question on his computer.    
  
After a moment Jones said, "Yeah.  Caffrey was rumored to be in Sweden when a museum heist went down.  He was the prime suspect.  The only suspect, actually.  The loot never resurfaced and was assumed to have been sold off on the black market." He whistled in appreciation as he continued scanning the report. "Estimated worth one point five million dollars."  
  
It sounded exactly as Alex described it. "Easy money."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Never mind.  Jones? Can you call the local detective in charge, find out exactly what happened?"  
  
Jones hesitated. "The detective in Sweden?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
If his agent had any more questions, he kept them to himself. "Will do."  
  
By the bar, Alex continued her conversation with Neal. "You do this, we're even."  
  
Neal raised an eyebrow. "I'd say you owe me big."  
  
"But it's a time-sensitive issue.  Because he's flying out.." her finger swept through the air, like an airborne plane.  
  
"Tonight.  Yeah, I got that."  Neal shook his head.  "You're really something, you know."  
  
Alex smiled. "You wouldn't want me any other way."  
  
Neal couldn't argue with that.  "I assume you know where you're meeting this guy?"  
  
"More or less."  
  
"Fine.  So we'll need to pick up... a few things first.  I'll get the car."  
  
  
At that last sentence, the FBI van erupted into grins, and a buzz of excited anticipation.    
  
"He's gonna lead us straight to his hideout!" Ruiz couldn't believe his luck.  Shouting orders into his walkie-talkie, he hurried with Peter to a waiting SUV and notified his agents: "We're on! everybody in the cars, now!"

 


	4. Chapter 4

  
Neal's car was brought out to the curb by the hotel's valet service.  Neal and Alex got in, and Neal adjusted his rear-view mirror, looking into it intently.  
  
"Are you sure you weren't followed?" he asked.  
  
Alex chuckled uneasily. "Why would I be followed?  You know, you're starting to sound like M-" she bit back the rest of the sentence. "You're turning paranoid."  
  
Neal glanced at her for a moment. "Four years in Sing Sing can do that to you."  
  
After a short silence, Alex nodded.  "Yeah, I get the point."  
  
"Good."  
  
Neal put on a CD of French chansons, which led to a light-hearted discussion of various French beaches and Neal's most recent excursion to France (which apparently included a lot of sightseeing around Paris, with no mention of the museum heist he apparently pulled off in between climbing the Eiffel Tower and descending down into the catacombs).  But talk soon died down, and the FBI agents following the two were left with the music.  
  
After just ten minutes of it, Peter started grinding his teeth and wishing hell on the oh-so-cultured thief.  Why couldn't he just listen to normal music like normal people?  
  
Caffrey drove as if he was expecting to be followed. He drove down side-streets, then doubled back.  Slowed down to a crawl, then flew through junctions just as the light turned red.  Idled for no reason by the side of the road.  
  
All the trick driving, however, did not prevent the FBI from following him, since Hunter's bracelet was equipped with a GPS tracker as well.  Ruiz kept a safe distance behind Caffrey's car,  Hunter's GPS a blinking dot on the map in front of them.  
  
After over an hour of Caffrey meandering around New York, Ruiz started grumbling. "This is ridiculous.  The son-of-a-bitch is up to something."  
  
Peter had taken that as a given.  In all his years tracking Caffrey, he'd never seen him do anything like this.  Caffrey could evade surveillance, and usually did.  If he thought he had shaken off his tail, why was he still driving around like this?  It didn't make sense.  
  
Peter glanced at the time.  This was taking too long.  "We should stop them."  
  
Ruiz didn't like the idea.  "Caffrey might simply be on edge."  
  
"For more than hour?"  
  
"We can't risk it.  His stash is the mother lode.  He could stop there any second now."  
  
Ruiz had a point.  Neal could lead them right to his stash, which Peter was sure would take care of at least half his cold-cases.    
  
But the seconds passed and Neal did not stop.    
  
Just over an hour and a half later, Peter's phone rang.  It was Jones.  
  
"Hey, Peter."  
  
Peter didn't waste much time getting to the point. "What do you got?"  
  
"The detective in charge had since moved into the private field, it took me a while to track him down.  A Lt. Persson."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"Persson had a fence who was working with the police, and he managed to set up a meet with Caffrey.  It was all set up for a takedown, but Caffrey must have gotten wind of it, because he never showed up."  
  
"So Caffrey managed to evade the police." That wasn't news.  
  
"Yeah, but that's not all, Peter.  Persson thinks Caffrey was stringing their CI along from the very beginning.  That he had another fence set up for the buy, and wanted to misdirect the police."  
  
"He _conned_ the police."  
  
"That's what Persson thinks."  
  
"Thanks, Jones."  
  
Caffrey was half a mile in front of them, circling the neighborhood for the third time.    
  
Peter glanced at Ruiz.  "We've been had."  
  
"Damn!"  To his credit Ruiz didn't argue.  He lifted the walkie-talkie.  "All teams, stop the suspect!"

 

******

  
Neal was driving down a lonely stretch of road when a black SUV sped by him, screeching to a stop as it blocked the road.  
  
Neal braked hard, and threw the gear into reverse.  But a second later, another SUV appeared from behind him and blocked his retreat.  
  
The street was soon swarming with armed agents, shouting at him. Before he had a chance to react, Neal was dragged out of the car, patted down and his hands cuffed behind his back.    
  
Ruiz got out of the car, slamming the door shut, and made his way past the agents surrounding Caffrey.  Alex was nowhere to be seen.    
  
"Where's Hunter?"  
  
Caffrey had the most befuddled expression on his face. "Who?"  
  
"Don't play games with me, Caffrey!  You helped a fugitive escape."  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"Sir?" One of the agents searching the car held up the bracelet they'd provided Hunter.  It had been dropped by the front passenger seat.  
  
Ruiz turned on Neal.  "Alexandra Hunter.  She was in this car."  
  
"She was," Neal admitted the obvious, "She asked to get off.  I didn't realize that's against the law."  
  
"Don't get smart with me.  Where did she get off?"  
  
"I don't remember."  
  
Ruiz grabbed Neal by the shirt, getting into his personal space.    
  
Neal didn't seem intimidated.  "Watch it, that's silk!"  
  
Ruiz ignored that.  "Where is she, Caffrey?!"  
  
"I told you, I don't know."    
  
Ruiz held Neal's gaze for a long moment.  The conman refused to be the first to back down.  
  
Finally, Ruiz let go in disgust.  He turned to his agents.  "Take Caffrey downtown, and put out an APB out for Hunter."    
  
Neal caught sight of Peter as he was being bundled into one of the waiting FBI vehicles.  Their eyes met, and Peter could have sworn that just before Neal disappeared into the vehicle, the conman winked at him.


	5. Chapter 5

  
By the time they got Neal into an interrogation room, Ruiz was fuming mad.  Peter leaned against the wall and let the other agent do the questioning.  
  
"Where is she, Caffrey?" Ruiz was standing over Neal, one hand on the back of his prisoner's chair, the other on the table.  
  
"I don't know, but-"  
  
"I asked you, where is-"  
  
" _But_ ," Neal insisted on finishing the sentence, "I'd be more than happy to help the FBI."  
  
"You want to help." Ruiz was caught up short.  
  
"Yeah. I'm a law-abiding citizen."  
  
Ruiz snorted.  Without another word he left the interrogation room, returning a minute later with a large map of New York City, which he unrolled on the table.  He then uncuffed his prisoner.  "You want to help, then start helping.  Where did you let her off, Caffrey?"  
  
Neal perused the map, his finger hovering over it.  After a long silent moment he put his finger down in the middle of Brooklyn. "Here."  
  
Ruiz squinted at the map.  "So that's on-"  
  
Neal moved his finger a few streets over.  "Or maybe here."  
  
Peter was about to pipe up and say that at least they know which neighborhood to focus on, but then Neal frowned, and turned the map around.  This time he pointed to a spot in the Bronx.  "Hold on, I think it was here."  
  
Ruiz grabbed the map and threw it aside.  "You think this is funny, Caffrey?"  
  
Neal looked up with a confused look. "Huh?"  
  
"Do you see anybody laughing?"  
  
Neal glanced over at Peter.  The other agent did not look like he was laughing.  
  
Ruiz was practically shouting in his face.  "You _knew_ she was trying to run, and you helped her!"  
  
"How could I have possibly known that?" Neal sounded quite reasonable.  
  
"You're not going to get away with this.  Hunter is not going to get far.  We've got roadblocks everywhere.  Once we catch her, you're both going to rot in jail."  
  
"Look, I said I'm willing to help.  What else do you want me to do?"  
  
"I'm gonna get you for this, Caffrey," Ruiz threatened. "You're not going to waltz out of this one."  
  
With that, he stormed out, stopping only to grab the map on his way out.    
  
Once the door slammed behind Ruiz, Peter detached himself from the wall.  He pulled a chair round the table to sit closer to Neal.  "Just like Stockholm?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"That was quite a con you ran."  
  
Neal allowed himself a quick grin.  "I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"Of course you don't.  Alex is pretty lucky, you know."  Neal looked up at him in surprise. "Not many guys would risk jail to help a friend."  
  
"I'm not going to jail, Peter." Neal sounded so very convinced of that.  
  
"Don't be too sure."  
  
"I didn't do anything wrong."  
  
Peter wouldn't have phrased it exactly like that. "You stole those books."  
  
"You can't prove that."  
  
"You helped a criminal escape custody."  
  
"You can't prove that either."  
  
Peter knew that this was as close to an admission of guilt as he was going to get.  He forged on.  "You made Ruiz look stupid. He's not going to forgive you for that."  It wasn't the first time, either.  
  
"It's not _my_ fault he looks stupid," Neal muttered.  
  
Peter swallowed a smile.  "You shouldn't throw it in his face."  
  
"I can handle him."  
  
Peter just shook his head.  Neal was playing a very dangerous game.  "Watch your back, okay?"  
  
Neal grinned at him. "I always do."  
  
Peter sighed.  "Yeah."    
  
He wanted to pound some sense into the younger man.  To tell him that if he continued committing crimes he would get caught.  That he could go legit and make a real life for himself.  But he knew from experience that it wasn't going to help.  He got up and headed towards the door.  
  
"Hey!" Neal shouted after him.  "How long are you going to keep me here?"  
  
Peter turned around.  "That's up to Agent Ruiz."  
  
"I didn't do anything wrong," Neal repeated the refrain.  "This is FBI harassment."  
  
Peter suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, and walked out.

 

*******

 

  
That night, Peter pulled out the Caffrey box from the back of his closet.  After some digging, he found the postcard from Sweden: A lonely, broken tree trunk in the middle of a field of snow.  Somebody's idea of art.    
  
Peter turned it over.  On the back it merely said "Wish you were here." It was signed "NC", and postmarked from Stockholm, dated six years earlier.   
  
Ruiz intended to keep Neal in lockup for as long as he could, until he found Alex, but even he knew that this was only wishful thinking.  He couldn't keep Neal locked up for more than a day or two, max.  For all their surveillance, all they had was circumstantial evidence.  Not enough to put him away, neither for the heist nor for helping Hunter escape.

Alex was nowhere to be found, and Peter seriously doubted they'd be able to track her down.  She had contacts and influence, and chances were great that she had managed to slip out of the country.    
  
Peter dropped the postcard back in the box. 

Neal was much more careful now.  He didn't send postcards taunting the FBI.    
  
But he was still willing to risk everything to help a friend.  
  
  
END


End file.
